Wednesday, 6 June 2018

Back in 2000, in spite of petrol shortages due to refinery strikes,
I did a road trip through southern England and visited villages where some of
my ancestors lived.I found several
churches that had monuments to branches of my family tree who were landed
gentry.This is the story of one of
those ancestors; a man whose monumental inscription I particularly liked.

Taken by me, 2000

My ancestor John Ernley* was born soon after 1507, which is
when his parents, John Ernley and Lucy Cooke** were married.He was probably born in or near Bishops
Cannings in Wiltshire, where his family had property.This photo shows the outside of the parish
church at Bishops Cannings.

John had at least three siblings, younger brother, William,
and two sisters, Margaret and Jane.His great
uncle (or less likely, grandfather***), also John Ernley, was Solicitor
General, Attorney General and Justice of the Common Pleas in the courts of Henry
VII and Henry VIII, so the Ernley family was prominent at the time.

John Ernley married Mary Hyde, daughter of William Hyde of
Denchworth.The Denchworth Hydes were
apparently a Catholic family so fell out of favour in the reign of Protestant
Elizabeth I. John and Mary were probably married around 1540; this is a rough
assumption extrapolated from the dates I am sure of.Parish registers for Bishop’s Cannings start
in 1591, so there are no parish records from the time John and his family were
alive and I am reliant on other sources of information.John and Mary had four children that I know
of: Anne (my ancestor), Michael (born c. 1542), Thomas and Francis.

Mary must have died young, as John married a second time to
Joan Reade, a widow, who was named in his will.

Photo taken by me, 2000

A part of the landed gentry, John held property in several
parishes near Bishop’s Cannings, as well as in other parts of England.In particular, he inherited the manor of
Bourton, in Bishop’s Cannings from his father and this seems to have been his
home.John also held roles that fitted
with his position in society.He seems
to have been sheriff of Wiltshire in the 1550s as he is apparently mentioned in
Privy Council records from the period.In 1559, he was Member of Parliament for Wiltshire.

John Ernley died on 1 February 1571, 1572 according to the
Gregorian calendar, or as per his monumental inscription: fifteen hundred three
score and eleven.It is this way of
expressing the date that particularly appeals to me because it is different and
quaint.John was buried in the Ernley
chapel in Bishop’s Cannings parish church, as requested in his will. Right is a photo of the chapel and below is the inscription.

Photo take by me, 2000

I think there might be much more to discover about John and
his family but records from the 1500s are more or a challenge to research than
those relating to more recent periods of history.

This blog post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors prompt for
this week “Going to the Chapel”.

*Earnley is the parish in Sussex where the family come
from.Other spellings include Ernle and
Earnlie.

**Or Cook

***There were several related John Ernley’s whose lives and
career’s overlapped, likely including two brothers, so it makes trying to work
out who was who somewhat complicated.

About Me

I am an Aussie living in England. For a few years I have been writing as a hobby and thought it was time to share my writing more widely. I have a blog for fiction and a blog for stories from my family's history.